The die is cast

It took me all morning, plus an entire ink cartridge and then some, but I finally got the manuscript and required five-page summary printed out, bound, and mailed off. Now it's up to the judges. The contest rules say that the winners will officially be announced in mid-July, so I have a long wait before I find out anything.

While I was at the post office, I discovered that Richard Gere starred in a remake of the Japanese movie Shall We Dance?. (There were little card-sized calendars advertising it, and the post office guy--knowing I'm an Oda Yuuji fan because I asked about his poster--figured I must also be a Richard Gere fan and handed me one.) Why did no one tell me about this? It's going to be playing here starting Golden Week (end of April). I'm interested in finding out what an American take on the movie will be.

After that, since I was out, I stopped at the home goods store and bought a basket big enough to hold a kerosene can and attached it to my bike. At the store, I found that their garden department carries logs you can buy to grow your own shiitake mushrooms. I am constantly amazed by the products they have here.